I frequently get asked, “What is Frontier Girls?” We may be small, but word of our program is growing quickly and many families are anxious to find out more.

Frontier Girls was founded on January 19, 2007 as an alternative to Girl Scouts to provide a scout like program for girls that goes back to the values and goals of the original Girl Scouts. Our mission is to raise women of honor to be the mothers and leaders of the future through life skills, leadership, character building, teamwork and service to others. We seek to instill a love of learning in the girls and allow them to explore the world around them, learning about anything that sparks their curiosity. In the process we show them the importance of caring for those less fortunate then themselves and how to become a strong leader and stand up for what they believe in.

Frontier Girls celebrates the American spirit that makes us exceptional. Our country was built upon a strong faith in God, strong family values, and the acceptance of those who are different than ourselves. We are a people of loyalty, of faith, of innovation. We pride ourselves on our resourcefulness and our freedoms. These are the traits our country was built on, but they are slowly being eroded away in a culture of instant gratification and irresponsibility. The Frontier Girl program seeks to restore a focus on good moral character, patriotism, community service, and a love of learning that is being lost.

The name Frontier Girls was chosen because one of the definitions of the word “frontier” is “an undeveloped area or field for discovery or research.” The American spirit thrives upon the constant desire to discover new things, to ask more questions, and find more answers. Our badges are divided into Areas of Discovery because we want girls to find something new in everything they study and to never want to stop learning. We even have an entire Area of Discovery dedicated to Character with badges such as honor, diligence, responsibility and modesty. These badges encourage girls to put these traits to use in their own lives, helping them to be good, well-mannered, self directed, respectful, disciplined, and honorable citizens.

Our scout like youth program for girls uses badges for its foundation with a variety of higher awards available as well. We believe that girls can do anything they set their minds to and should have the opportunity to explore any subject that interests them. For this reason we have made a commitment to writing a badge on virtually any subject a girl wishes to learn about with the exception of controversial topics we feel are better addressed by parents or religious leaders. We currently offer more than 1200 individual badges and are adding more every day.

Frontier Girls believes that scouting should be a family affair when possible. For this reason we honor the badge requirements of other scouting organizations such as the Boy Scouts and Royal Rangers. This allows families to all work on badges together without having to juggle two sets of programming. We also offer a sister program, Quest Clubs (www.questclubs.net), that uses the same badges and awards, but is open on a co-ed basis if brothers wish to earn Frontier Girl badges.

Just a reminder, for those of your who have been waiting for information on the Support A Soldier Program, we have a new contact for this fall stationed in Bagram, Afghanistan. Please email me directly for the contact name and address. Instructions for shipping are below.

Make sure to mark on the label what type of box it is and if it intended for a male or female if applicable.

What to Send: Always include personal cards and banners showing your thanks and support. Regardless of what else is in the box, these are the items the soldiers treasure the most. I have been told that pictures of the girls are especially appreciated as they can see who is sending them the package. You can also have the girls design banners and other artwork that can be hung on the walls of the tents or common areas. Bright, colorful, happy images are best.

The easiest way to ship packages is to use the flat rate Priority Mail boxes available at the post office. This way you always know what the shipping is regardless of how much you can pack in the box. There is a discount for shipping to APO/FPO addresses. If you are not sure what items to send, we have listed several ideas below.

Requested Items: For items, our team would appreciate some healthy foods. This list is kind of long so please feel free to send some here and there:

1. Only postive messages are allowed to be placed in the boxes. All letters and cards must be loose or in unsealed envelopes and leaders must read all letters that go in their box to make sure there is nothing hateful or negative. This includes any negative religious messages such as telling the soldiers that unless they recieve Jesus, they will go to hell. Even if this is your belief, and you mean well, it is a disturbing message for men and women who face death every day and they do not need the extra stress. Absolutely no messages disrespecting other religions will be tolerated. Messages such as “God Loves You” or “We are praying for you” are acceptable.

2. No chocolate or soft baked good that can spoil such as muffins should be sent after March 30 as it is the hot season and they will melt or mold.

3. If you send “cool ties” for the soldiers to wear, make sure they are 100% cotton fabric and are in camoflauge colors as otherwise they cannot wear them on patrol. (These are the polymer filled ties that get soaked in water and tied around your neck. You can also make them as small flat circles that can fit inside a helmet). Directions for making cool ties can be found here: http://www.watersorb.com/polymer_cool_neck_bands.htm

4. Most Army bases in Iraq and Afghanistan now have well-stocked provisions at the AAFES stores. The following items are easily obtained, so send only if a favorite brand is unavailable:

Cookies, candies, snack foods and beverages

Toiletries & personal hygiene products

Small electrical appliances

Personal electronic products and batteries

CDs, DVDs, magazines, books

5. Please do NOT send the following items to a soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan. Packages are scanned and these items WILL be confiscated:

Hazardous, flammable, toxic and radioactive substancesTip: Don’t use packing boxes that are labelled with a prohibited substance.

6. Use common sense and realize that packages can be subjected to high heat and bouncing around. Use Ziploc bags and lots of padding where applicable. If there is any chance that it might leak, put it in a ziplock bag! (two is even better!)

Thank you so much for showing your support for our soldiers and participating in this program.
Sincerely,
Kerry Cordy Frontier Girls Clubs www.frontiergirlsclubs.com

I was recently introduced to a new website called Pinterest. For those of you who are not familiar with it, it is like a giant online bulletin board of fun projects and activities. You start your own board and then “pin” links to websites that interest you. I recently started a Pinterest Account for Frontier Girls projects and plan to have boards for each of the Areas of Discovery as well as boards for topics like Patriotism, Troop Resources, Fundraising, and SWAPS. On each board will be pictures of projects that you might wish to use in your Frontier Girls journey. When you click on them, you will be taken to the website that has instructions for the project. Please remember that these sites are NOT part of Frontier Girls and we cannot guarantee their content, so please surf responsibly. As our troops and members send me great websites, I will make sure to pin these to my boards as well. If you have a Pinterest board of your own that relates to Frontier Girls, please let me know so that I can follow it and repin your ideas to the main Frontier Girls boards. To visit the Frontier Girls Pinterest Boards go to :

The first decade of 2010 is past. As we embark on yet another new year, and new decade, I challenge all Frontier Girls to make a difference in your community this year. If you have not yet earned a Make a Difference award, this is the year to do it. Regardless of your age, there is always something you can do to make your community a better place to live. Make a commitment to uncovering a solution to a problem in your area.

With the current economic situation, there are more and more animals being turned loose to become strays. You could start an information campaign addressing the problem and distribute fliers to schools and storefronts. Work with your local humane society to find out what else you can do such as organizing a pet food drive.

Many educational and fun places to visit in your community, such as zoos and museums, are non-profit organizations. They are very expensive to run, and their costs are not covered by admission fees. Without donations and volunteers, they would be unable to survive. Even if you are not old enough to volunteer at the location itself, you can always help hand out fliers, further a public relation campaign, or hold a fundraiser.

If there is a dangerous intersection in your community that needs a street light, stop sign, or cross walk, start a petition to obtain one. When you have collected enough signatures, present your petition to your city officials. Maybe there are bushes or trees that make it difficult to see oncoming traffic. If they are on private property, offer to help trim them. If they are on public land, contact your city officials with a request that they be trimmed.

Maybe you live in an area that could use some beautification. You could write a proposal for a Neighborhood Beautification Week and get your mayor to sign it. Then make fliers to post around town and organize volunteers to help out neighbors who may not be able to clean up their own yards. Hold a fundraiser to purchase paint and supplies, or have them donated, and coordinate volunteers to help senior citizens, low-income residents, or people with special needs clean up their homes.

Many stores keep unhealthy snacks, such as candy bars, up by the front counter, contributing to our society’s poor nutritional habits and obesity problem. Work with store owners to find tasty, more nutritional items, that can be offered in place of, or at least next to, the unhealthy options. Make fliers for your community promoting healthier eating habits.

There are thousands of things you can do for your community. Find something you love, and then look through your community to find a way you can use your passion to help others. If you love animals, check with the local animal shelters or pet stores to see how you and your friends can help. If you love history, talk to local museums. Maybe gardening is your thing. If so, check with local parks, schools and churches to see who needs help with planting or weeding. If you love painting, maybe you can organize a community mural. Use your imagination to rise to the challenge and make your community a better place to live.

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Welcome to the Frontier Girls Blog

For first time readers of this blog, Frontier Girls is a merit badge based program for girls ages 5-17 that focuses on patriotism, traditional values, community service and a love of learning. This blog is designed to keep its readers up to date on what is happening with the organization as a whole, as well as highlights of what our troops are doing across the nation. For more information on the Frontier Girls program, visit our website at http://www.frontiergirls.com/